\u201cAs-sal\u00e1mu ‘alaikum wa rahmatul l\u00e1hi wa barak\u00e1tuh!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA-\u00fathu bill\u00e1hi minash shayt\u00e1nir rajeem. Bismill\u00e1hir rahm\u00e1nir raheem.<\/p>\n
Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta\u2019eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi, wana\u2019oothu Billaahi min shuroori an-fusinaa, wamin sayyi aati a\u2019maalinaa. May- Yahdillahu fa huwal muhtad, wa may- yudlill falan tajidaa lahu waliyan murshida. Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-All\u00e1h, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan \u2018abduhoo warasooluh\u201d<\/p>\n
All Praise is due to All\u00e1h, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by All\u00e1h, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but All\u00e1h, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, sws, is His servant, and His messenger.<\/p>\n
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem! Ya Ay-yuhal-latheena \u2018aamanut taqul-laaha, haqqa tuqaatihee wala tamu tun-na, il-la wa antum Muslimoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
O You who believe, – Fear Allah, as He should be feared, and die not except as Muslims.<\/p>\n
Ya Ay-yuhal-latheena \u2018aamanut taqul-laaha, wa qooloo qawlan sadeedaa. Yuslih-lakum a\u2019maalakum wa yaghfir lakum thunoobakum, wamay yu-til-laaha warasoolah, faqad faaza fawzan atheemaa.\u201d<\/p>\n
O You who believe, – Be aware of Allah, and speak a straightforward word. He will forgive your sins and repair your deeds. And whoever takes Allah and His prophet as a guide, has already achieved a mighty victory\u2026<\/p>\n
My Dear Brothers and Sisters<\/p>\n
The Arabic word for mankind is \u2018insaan.\u2019 One of the meanings of \u2018insaan\u2019 is forgetfulness. Human beings are forgetful, and we need constant reminders as to who we are, why we are here, and to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. All our acts of worship, our Salaah, Zakaat, our fasting and Hajj, are actually reminders of this unique relationship between the Creator and the created, between the Rabb and His abd, the Lord and His servant. We Muslims, if we aspire to become true believers, we have to be constantly aware of our utter reliance on Allah: our utter and absolute helplessness in the face of the titanic forces of nature around us.<\/p>\n
The Burmese cyclone and the Chinese earthquake are timely reminders, if we need reminding, that the image we have of earth, as a serene and peaceful planet, is actually wrong. This is not a peaceful planet, by any means. Those stunning and idyllic photographs and landscape paintings that we enjoy so much describe only one small facet, one small aspect of the face of mother earth. The wider picture of our planet is much more complex, much more fearsome. If we could look, literally, below the surface, if we could actually see what lies beneath our feet, we will see that there are oceans of boiling magma, liquid rock, thousands of miles thick, churning and oozing around the nickel-iron core. It\u2019s like jahannam is right here, under our feet! The temperatures in that area range from 3500 to 5000 degrees Celsius! If we could fly a plane through that fiery mass at 600 miles an hour, it would take several hours to reach the centre of the earth, and more than a day\u2019s flying to come out on the other side!<\/p>\n
Our \u2018solid earth\u2019 is in fact only a wafer thin layer of continental land mass that rests like a cracked eggshell over a ball of boiling magma. This cracked eggshell is a shifting and grinding jigsaw puzzle of tectonic plates that produces earthquakes and tsunamis. Obviously, we\u2019re shocked when natural disasters strike, but really, if we understood how finely tuned and delicately balanced are the awesome forces of nature, we wouldn\u2019t be so surprised. We wouldn\u2019t ask why they happen, but we\u2019d wonder why don\u2019t they happen more often and more intensely?<\/p>\n
Scientists tell us that all life is possible only on the very narrowest of margins. What exactly do they mean? Time is short. But let\u2019s look at one or two examples. If the sun were a ball 3 metres high like the height of this ceiling, then planet earth would be about 3 inches high, like a tennis ball. The distance between them, 93 million miles, would on that scale be would be about 60 miles, like from Oxford to Heathrow Airport [ or, from here to Brighton or Bournemouth]. During summer, our planet tilts 23\u00bd degrees towards the sun, and we feel its power and heat. During winter it tilts 23\u00bd degrees away from the sun and we\u2019re freezing cold. The difference between scorching heat and freezing cold is that tiny tilt, which brings us just 4,000 miles closer to or further away from the sun. Take that 4,000 miles and divide it into 93 million miles and what do you get? The margin of comfort, being too hot or too cold, is not 1%, not 1\/100th of 1%, but a mere 1\/4000th of one percent! Just imagine! If we were slightly nearer to the sun, less that one thousandth of one percent, we\u2019d perish from the heat, and if we were on thousandth of one percent further away, we\u2019d freeze solid. Subhaanallah! Just think about it. And, we\u2019re only talking of temperature. What about other factors? What about the relationship between the earth\u2019s gravity and mass? Again, we are told that this balance is so critical, that it just about keeps life-giving oxygen in the atmosphere, and releases deadly ammonia harmlessly into space. If there was a fractional difference between earth\u2019s gravity and mass, by a factor of one followed by ninety-nine zeros, – this is a number I cannot even imagine, – if there was such a tiny difference, then ammonia would be trapped in the atmosphere and all life would suffocate. We\u2019ve only talked about gravity, mass and temperature. We haven\u2019t even touched radiation, and the chances of meteor strikes or collisions with other planets. The scientists say that there are so many real and imminent threats to life on earth, in the midst of so many risks, that, statistically speaking, on the basis of mathematical probabilities, we shouldn\u2019t actually be here at all! These are scientists and mathematicians, many of them are atheists. They say that life is possible only on the very narrowest of margins. Considering the awesome dangers all around us, it\u2019s a miracle that life exists at all. Of course, as believing servants of Allah, we say that none of this happens by chance. None of this can be explained away by coincidence. Everything exists by His Mercy, by His Will, by His Decree. Allah reminds us in His Holy Book:<\/p>\n
“See they not how little of the sky and the earth is open to them, and how much is hidden? If We wished We could cause the earth to swallow them up or cause a piece of the sky to fall upon them. Truly in this is a Sign for every servant that turns to Allah (in repentance)” (Saba’ 34:9)<\/p>\n
“It is Allah Who sustains the heavens and the earth lest they cease (to function): and if they should fail there is none not one can sustain them thereafter: truly He is Most Forbearing Oft-Forgiving” Sura F\u00e1tir v41<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Indeed! Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they should move away from their places, and if they were to move away from their places, there is not one that could grasp them after Him. Truly, He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving. (Fatir 35:41)<\/p>\n
Brothers and Sisters, next time we look up to the starry skies, let us think about those powerful forces that surround us. Forces that keep our very existence poised on a knife-edge, and let us thank All\u00e1h subh\u00e1nall\u00e1h wata-\u2018\u00e1l\u00e1 for his grace and mercy.<\/p>\n
Alhamdu lillahi Rabbil \u2018Aalameen. Was-salaatu was-salaamu alaa Khairil mursaleen. Muhammadin-nabeey-yil Ummiy-yee, wa-\u2018alaa aalihee, wasah-bihee, aj-ma\u2019een.<\/p>\n
Ammaa ba\u2019ad:<\/p>\n
Innall\u00e1ha wa malaaikata yusall\u00fana alan nabi. Y\u00e1 ay yuhal latheena \u00e1manu sall\u00fa alayhi wasalli m\u00fa tas leema. Allahumma salli al\u00e1 Muhammad, wa ala \u00e1li Muhammad, kama salayta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali Ibrahim. Allahumma barik ala Muhammad, wa alaa \u00e1li Muhammad, kama barakta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali ibrahim. Fil \u00e1la meen, innaka hameedun majeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part Two:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Sub’ hanallahi wal hamdu lillah, wala hawla wala quwwata illah billah yu althi yual theem.<\/p>\n
“All glory is for Allah, and all praise is for Allah; There is no power and no strength except with Allah.”<\/p>\n
Brothers and Sisters,<\/p>\n
Cyclones, earthquakes and Tsunamis, along with volcanoes, tornadoes and all other forces of nature, bring widespread suffering in their wake. Science tells us how these things happen but precisely why anything happens only Allah knows for certain. One thing we do know is that this life was never meant to be a paradise without pain and suffering. The Holy Quran repeatedly tells us that we will be tested in order to see who is best in their behaviour.<\/p>\n
\u201cBismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem! Tabaark al lathee biyadihil Mulk wa huwa alaa kulli shay in qadeer. Al lathee khalaqal mawta wal hayaata liyab\u2019 luwakum ay-yu kum ahsanu \u2018amalaa. Wahuwal \u2018azeezul ghaffoor!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the Name of Allah, most Merciful, most Compassionate! Blessed is He, in Whose Hand is Dominion, and He has power over all things. He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed; and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving.\u201d Sura Mulk; Ch 67:v1<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In Sura Al-Baqara v 214, we read:<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think that you will enter heaven without being tested like those who passed away before you ? Poverty and afflictions befell them and they were violently shaken until the Messenger and those who believe along with him said, `When will the help of ALLAH come ?’ Yea, surely the help of ALLAH is ever near.\u201d ….”Ala inna nasrallahi qareeb.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Brothers and sisters, no one should be surprised to encounter hardship and suffering. This is part of our human condition. It does not mean that Allah is angry with us or that He has forsaken us. Think how His beloved Prophets lived. None of them had an easy life. Every Prophet and wali, Friend of Allah, had to endure unspeakable hardship in order so set a good example to us. They showed us patience, perseverance and dignity in accepting whatever Allah has decreed for us.<\/p>\n
Let us study the lives and times of all the Prophets, and see how much we can learn from them, how we can increase our faith, our patience and endurance. Let us do what we can to help lighten the burdens of all those who have lost loved ones and material possessions through natural and man-made disasters.<\/p>\n
[Last week our small community raised \u00a3500 to sponsor the brothers who climbed the 2 highest mountains in Britain. The money will go to the Islamic Relief Burma Cyclone appeal. May Allah bless all those who contributed, and may Allah bless the young men who braved the elements to raise money for so many distressed and needy victims of the Burmese cyclone]<\/em><\/p>\n
Brothers and sisters, to conclude our khutbah:<\/p>\n
InnaAllaha, Yamuru bil adel, wal ihsaan, wa eetaa-i zil qurba; wa yanha anil fuhshaa-i, wal munkari walbaghi; ya-idzukhum lallakum tathak-karoon. (Sura 16:90),<\/p>\n
“Surely Allah commands justice, good deeds and generosity to others and to relatives; and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, so that you may be reminded.”<\/p>\n
Fadth kuroonee adth kurkum, wash kuroolee walaa tak furoon [2:152].<\/p>\n
\u201cand remember Me: I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and do not reject faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
wala thikrul-Laahi akbar, Wal-Laahu ya\u2019lamu maa tasna\u2019oon.\u201d [29:45].<\/p>\n
\u201cand without doubt, Remembrance of Allah is the Greatest Thing in life, and Allah knows the deeds that you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ameen. Aqeemus salaah!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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